Family dinner, Kensington Peking, Kensington

I love family dinners! I have a pretty big family. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see a lot of them as they are all in Indonesia. So when they came to Sydney for my brother’s wedding, I couldn’t help but organize a couple of family gatherings! It was their last night here in Sydney, and a last supper was definitely in order. We have been eating around Carlingford a couple of times that week, and wanted a new venue. It’s been a while since I last came here (yes, there are a couple of restaurants which I haven’t visited for a while!), I remember coming here with my two dearest friends I and S, the day after I had my wisdom teeth pulled out about 8 years ago, I couldn’t eat much but was determined to try their hakka pigs trotter with fat choi and it was simply outstanding! I can’t believe it has been that long since I last visited, and well yes, this restaurant has been around for that long!

There were 12 of us, and we were all ravenous! Mum and I did most of the ordering, but we did ask everyone what they wanted, which probably was a mistake as they all answered ‘anything’. So, we took it upon ourselves to order for the family.

We started with Peking duck, and as there were 12 of us, we only managed to get one pancake each! The Peking duck was good, but not the best I have eaten. The skin was crispy, and the meat succulent, however, thought the duck ‘pieces’ were a little too thick.

Unfortunately, the pancake was also a little too thick for my liking. I do like the pancake paper thin.

I couldn’t help but pick a thin piece, just the skin, with a slitter of fat. It was good, albeit thick pastry.

Our second course was the noodles (we usually go for the Sang Choy Bau but wanted something different) and the noodles are thick and tasty. It was tender and being the lady that I am, I couldn’t help but make slurping noises whilst eating them – classy!

Next the fillet steak Chinese style, this is not what we expected. I think Mum and I thought it would come on a hot plate. Nevertheless, the beef were extremely tender and succulent, the broccoli was a great complement. (Sorry about the blurry photo, think we had some hungry diners, and they turned the wheel a little when I tried to snap)

The deep fried pork chop was a little salty for my liking. It was lightly battered and the pork was incredibly tender. Eaten with a dollop of chili, it was scrumptious. A favourite amongst the diners.

The seafood tofu hotpot was seriously good. I love tofu! Soft, tender tofu, so soft that you really didn’t need to chew. The mixture of fish, scallops, calamari, chicken with peas, mushroom and bokchoy was just outstanding. This has to be one of my favourite dishes! Again, sorry about the blurry photo – hungry hungry diners!

The Shantung chicken was so tender that the meat just fell of the bone. The skin was crispy, and the meat was so juicy that I couldn’t help but eat more and more.

The beef and beans stir fry was good. I love the wok flavour, I can never make my beef and beans stir fry like that. The beef was tender and the garlic really gave it that nice flavouring and aroma.

There was one last dish which I didn’t take a photo of, the salt and pepper squid. I love good salt and pepper squid. I thought this was good, however, my aunt thought it was a little hard and chewy. Could just have been her piece, as everyone else thought it was good. The batter was thin, and besides my aunt’s piece, I thought the squid was tender. It was exactly what I needed.

I LOVE the chili here! It’s slightly roasted, and soaked in oil – sounds bad I know but it is a must try for those chili lovers! We couldn’t help but ask for more. I love how my aunties and uncles were trying to figure out how it was made.

You would think that was enough food, however, ‘The Mother’, my Dad and I were all still very hungry! We didn’t order anything else, but the adults went home to eat something healthy, fruits, the young kids went to a cafe for desserts prior to heading to the casino. You win some and you lose some, unfortunately, it was ‘The Mother’s’ evening, so we lost.

It was a wonderful evening with family. We talked, we giggled, and we laughed. I have missed you all – I can’t wait for the next wedding, it looks like it might be in Bali – yes, ‘The Mother’ and I have invited ourselves to R’s wedding!!

Related

I am a sucker for Peking Duck – LOVE it! The chicken also looks lovley – I would’ve nabbed the crispy wing tip that is sitting atop all of the chicken…yum! Lovely to met you at the bloggers picnic yesterday…I’ve been enjoying reading your blog alot. Melanie

Hey mel 🙂 it was so nice to have finally met you! thanks for your kind words and I too am loving reading your blog a lot!
I think my brother nabbed the chicken wing before i got to it, but would have definitely taken it! xx